The first episode of The Last of Us Season 2 was released yesterday and it featured a handful of deviations from the source material. While the showrunners aren’t concerned about making a one-on-one adaptation, they wanted to elevate and amplify the experience with a few creative changes. Fans of the games will likely criticize some of these changes, but these were not done without a good reason.
HBO released a new teaser for the following episodes, and some eagle-eyed fans caught an interesting still featuring both characters at a time that never occurred in the game. This could suggest that the show will make even more changes, or the showrunners could repeat the same mistake Naughty Dog years ago.
The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Could Be Taking Notes From the Original Game
The live-action adaptation has the luxury of extending a story and focusing on more important details. In The Last of Us Season 2, the story is much more ambitious than in the original season, and the showrunners made a few creative changes to adapt this story like showing Joel and Dina’s relationship and changing the order of certain events.
This allows the show to breathe and build up to more tense situations. At the end of each episode, a brief preview of the following episodes featured Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey armed to the teeth in a woodland area.
finally some help on this godforsaken app pic.twitter.com/bA6jcGBy9X
— ellie (@joelmillerrs) April 14, 2025
If you have played the controversial sequel, Joel Miller never made it out alive past the prologue, and this became the catalyst for Ellie’s revenge quest to Seattle. However, the teaser could suggest that this adaptation will change a few things and potentially delay his impending death at the hands of Abby. While marketing The Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog intentionally released a trailer with a fake clip of Joel accompanying Ellie in her quest to throw fans off the original story.
Perhaps HBO is doing the same thing or developed a new way to tell this story. Pedro Pascal delivered an exceptional performance in the first season, and the showrunners could give him more material to work with than his video game counterpart and give someone his fate to have him around even longer.
The Last of Us Season 2 Could Be What the Fans Wanted the Game to Be
It is no secret that the flashback sections in The Last of Us Part 2 are among the best parts. Players have a front-row seat to witness Joel and Ellie’s relationship deteriorate, but the flashbacks allow them to be immersed in the situation. Perhaps the still is from a flashback episode since earlier promos implied they would be featured one way or another.
Live-action adaptations don’t need to follow the original structure. However, specific events must develop throughout the story. Everyone knows how the story starts and ends, but it is all a matter of execution.
For more Thumb Wars coverage, check out Craig Mazin’s comments about his time working on The Last of Us Season 2, and Naughty Dog’s attempt to milk the franchise dry with another re-release.
Rouvin Josef Quirimit is a Content Writer, an avid gamer (on his PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch), and film enthusiast. He was fortunate to grow up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was enamored by the storytelling of a shared universe full of heart and spectacle. His love for movies led him to great single-player games and he intends to cover major franchises for years to come!
